Surprising some in the HDNet-televised matchup, Davis was able to hold her own in the striking exchanges in the opening round, and she prevented the larger Nunes from landing anything damaging when she was able to take the fight to the ground. Nunes looked to be aggressive enough with her strikes and clinch work to win the round, but she seemed to slow down in round two, and Davis took advantage.

Davis countered an early takedown from Nunes with an armbar in the second round and made a conscious effort to close the distance on the feet to avoid Nunes’ power. When Nunes used a hip toss to take down her opponent, Davis immediately reversed and rained down punches from mount. Nunes rolled over, and Davis fired off a final flurry of punches for the stoppage, which was just the second TKO win of her career. The official time was 4:53 of round two.

Prior to the 135-pound bout, Nunes, who debuted in Strikeforce at 145 pounds before dropping down in weight to face Davis, was rumored to be in line for a shot at Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos. The title fight may now go to Davis, who stated after the fight that she would be open to facing Santos if given sufficient time to prepare.

However, as Strikeforce has received considerable criticism for matching Santos up against undersized opponents in the past, pitting the featherweight phenom against yet another bantamweight in Davis could be a misstep.

Semifinal matchups set for JEWELS featherweight queen tournament

Four of the top featherweight (106 pounds/48 kilograms) fighters in Japan’s all-female JEWELS promotion advanced to the second round of the JEWELS featherweight queen tournament with victories on Sunday. The eight-woman tournament kicked off at “Jewels: 16th Ring” in Tokyo and featured a pair of upsets in the quarterfinals.

Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama (5-0) kept her unbeaten record intact in one quarterfinal bout, but she had a much tougher fight than expected against the returning Ayumi “Edge” Saito (8-6), who made her first appearance in more than three and a half years. Saito outstruck Sugiyama throughout the first round and kept the fight on the feet whenever possible. She landed more hard punches in round two, but Sugiyama managed to score a takedown and attempted arm-triangle and a guillotine chokes from mount. The late rally proved to be just enough, and all three judges awarded the competitive bout to the winner, Sugiyama, by unanimous decision.

Rising JEWELS star Kikuyo Ishikawa (6-2), who won the promotion’s Rough Stone Grand Prix in 2010, picked up her biggest victory to date with a huge upset of final Valkyrie champion Yasuko “Ikuko” Tamada (12-6-3) in their quarterfinal bout. Ishikawa kept her opponent guessing throughout the fight with a varied arsenal of kicks and punches, and she prevented the Megumi Fujii-trained Tamada from taking her down. Ishikawa scored with a particularly nasty right hook in the second round, and Tamada’s takedown with 15 seconds to go was nowhere near enough. The judges awarded a unanimous-decision verdict to the 27-year-old Ishikawa.

Veteran Misaki Takimoto (14-12-4) earned a commanding unanimous-decision victory over Miyoko Kusaka (3-4) in a one-sided quarterfinal bout. Outside of a pair of brief takedowns from Kusaka, Takimoto was in full control of the fight and landed countless punches and kicks. Takimoto dropped Kusaka with a left hook in the second round and continued to out-strike her less-experienced foe. Kusaka reversed a takedown shortly before the final bell but could do nothing from the top, and Takimoto took the win on all three scorecards.

Lastly, Yukiko Seki (10-20) earned yet another upset win, this time by taking a unanimous-decision victory over Sachiko “Sachi” Yamamoto (8-6-1). Despite her lacklustre record, the 4-foot-10 40-year-old Seki has won five of her past six fights and was arguably robbed of a victory in the finals of this past year’s JEWELS Rough Stone Grand Prix. Seki’s striking was the difference maker on Sunday, and she dropped Yamamoto in round one and struck from the top when the fight hit the mat. Seki also attempted a series of submissions en route to the upset win.

The semifinal and final of the JEWELS featherweight queen tournament take place all in one night at “Jewels: 17th Ring” on Dec. 17 in Tokyo. Sugiyama faces Ishikawa in one semifinal bout. Takimoto tangles with Seki in the other.

Seventeen-year-old kickboxer and MMA prodigy Mizuki Inoue (2-1) took a huge step up in competition for her third mixed-martial0arts bout and dropped a unanimous decision to JEWELS lightweight queen champion Ayaka Hamasaki (5-0) in the “Jewels: 16th Ring” headliner. Hamasaki, a protege of Fujii who won the JEWELS lightweight (114 pounds/52 kilograms) title in December, took down Inoue and kept her there throughout much of their non-title fight on Sunday night.

Inoue, whose technical striking is among the best of any female fighter in MMA, was never able to get her striking game going and had to play defense on the ground against Hamasaki’s submission attempts. In round two, Inoue managed to land some quick combinations of kicks and punches, but Hamasaki took her back down and worked for keylocks on two separate occasions.

When the final bell sounded, Hamasaki was awarded the unanimous decision victory on the scorecards. The fighters are two of the most promising female prospects in Japan.
Cancer survivor Tomita among other winners on JEWELS card

Following successful surgery for cervical cancer in March, Abe Ani Combat Club prospect Rina Tomita (4-5) made a successful return to the JEWELS ring by defeating perennial underdog Anna Saito (1-8). Saito scored a takedown late in the first round but fell right into an armbar that prompted referee Moritaka Oshiro to call a stop to the bout at the 4:24 mark. All four of Tomita’s wins have come by submission or technical submission.

Grappling ace Emi Tomimatsu (3-4) returned to MMA for the first time in close to four years and earned a unanimous-decision victory over Norway’s Celine Haga (1-9). Tomimatsu clinched often and landed countless knees to the legs and body while staying out of range of Haga’s wild punches. Showing improved standup, Tomimatsu landed some good punches as well.

Yuko “Amiba” Oya (6-2) earned a razor-thin split-decision victory over Akiko “Betiko” Naito (6-12) in the first pro MMA fight on the card. The back-and-forth bout was spent almost entirely on the ground, where both fighters were active with submission attempts and strikes to the body. A magnitude-3 earthquake struck midway through round two, but the fighters paid little attention and continued to grapple until the final bell.

Oya now has won four of her past five fights.

Tamaki Usui defeated Nana “Chanchin” Ichikawa by submission (armbar) at the 2:01 mark of round one in an amateur MMA bout. Usui defeated Ichikawa in 14 seconds when the pair fought in July.

The pound-for-pound boxing standout kept the fight with Finney on the feet and wore her down with crisp punches and kicks before finishing with a kick to the body at the 2:49 mark of round three.

Holm next faces Anne Sophie Mathis in an IBA women’s boxing title fight on Dec. 2.

Quick results

Strikeforce tournament veteran Maiju “Mai” Kujala (6-3) defeated late-replacement opponent Ieva Slezaite (0-1) by TKO (punches) at the 2:36 mark of round one at Carelia Fight 7. The event took place on Sept. 3 in Imatra, Finland. Kujala now has won two straight fights in 2011.

Multi-time kickboxing and MMA champion Lena “Hunter” Ovchynnikova (8-0) defeated fellow striker Eugenia Kostina by submission (armbar) at the 3:26 mark of round one at the “Professional Association of Martial Arts Ukraine: President’s Cup” event. The show took place on Sept. 4 in Mariupol, Ukraine. Despite having no formal training in jiu-jitsu, the 24-year-old Ovchynnikova has won six of her eight MMA bouts by armbar submission.

Rin Nakai (10-0-1) and Danielle “The Curse” West (3-2-1) fought to a split draw (29-28, 28-29, 29-29) at Pancrase Impressive Tour 9 on Sept. 4 in Tokyo. Nakai was dropped early in the fight by England’s West, who dominated the striking exchanges throughout. However, Nakai managed to secure takedowns and threatened with submissions to rally back for a draw.

Naoko Omuro (11-8-4) and Kayo Nagayasu (7-6-3) fought to a majority draw (20-19, 20-20, 20-20) on the same Pancrase card. Nagayasu looked to take the fight to the ground, but Omuro was the more effective striker and scored with punches throughout. While Omuro appeared to have taken over as the fight wore on, two judges disagreed, and the bout ended in a draw.

Sadae “Manhoef” Suzumura (2-1-1) defeated “Bataco” (1-1) by TKO (knees and punches) at the 5:00 mark of round one at “DEEP: Osaka Impact” on Sept. 4 in Osaka, Japan. Suzumura rebounded from a tough loss to veteran “Windy” Tomomi Sunaba with the victory while Bataco, who previously competed under the name “Yuka Butterfly Knife,” suffered her first loss.

Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly (12-2) defeated Angela Hayes (4-6) by submission (armbar) at the 0:20 mark of round one at “Cage Warriors Fighting Championship: Fight Night 2″ on Sept. 8 in Amman, Jordan. Daly, who took the fight on fewer than three days’ notice after Sheila Gaff fell ill, rushed in with punches and secured the fight-ending armbar seconds later as the fight hit the mat.

A bout between Michelle Ould (5-3) and Munah Holland (2-1) at Ring of Combat 37 on Sept. 9 in Atlantic City, N.J., was canceled after Ould aggravated a back injury just prior to the fight.

Valerie “Trouble” Letourneau (4-2) defeated Tannaya Hantelman (3-4) by TKO (punches) at the 2:07 mark of round one at “Freedom Fight: For Honor and Pride.” The event took place Sept. 10 in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, and was the first pro women’s bout in Ontario’s history. Letourneau previously stopped Hantelman in both fighters’ pro debuts in March 2007.

Chelsea “The Italian Princess” Colarelli (6-2) defeated late replacement Trisha Clark (1-4) by submission (armbar) at the 1:22 mark of round two at “C3 Fights: Dollar vs. Bollinger.” The event took place Sept. 10 in Newkirk, Okla. Clark entered the bout on very short notice after Lacey Schuckman withdrew due to illness. All six of Colarelli’s wins have come by submission.

Jessica “Evil” Eye (3-1) faces Casey “KO” Noland (3-1) at Bellator 51 on Sept. 24 in Canton, Ohio. Both fighters make their Bellator debuts in the 125-pound preliminary-card matchup. A Bellator women’s tournament at 125 pounds has been heavily rumored for an upcoming season, but the promotion has yet to formally announce any plans.

(Pictured: Alexis Davis)

MMAjunkie.com publishes the Women’s MMA Report every other Monday. Its author, Robert Sargent, is a veteran MMA journalist who also runs MMARising.com. Feel free to email us at news [AT] mmajunkie.com with any questions, news tips or suggestions.

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